All About Timing
by izzy95
Summary: The Gods is tired of Xena and Gabrielle and decides to play a little time travel trick, just when the BAU is having troubles. Story better than summary... Femslash JJ/Emily, Xena/Gabrielle
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is my first crossover. It's going to be Xena: Warrior Princess/Criminal Minds. In this first chapter it takes place in the ancient Rome with Xena characters solo. The next chapter will be a Criminal Minds ine. Later it will be mix, but I'm not going to tell you how ;) Please comment and enjoy!**

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><p>It was a rough time. The battle wouldn't seem to have any end. Gabrielle was taking care of all the wounded, while Xena was trying her best to convince the leaders that there were no reasons for battle.<p>

But they didn't listen very well. They never do. The nursery room was filled up, blood everywhere. The camp was slowly running out of water, and the enemies had cut off their chance for getting fresh supplies. Gabrielle tried her best. Helping everybody possible, but it was so hard and there were so many people. Xena was very persistent in her fight for peace, but it seemed like it was a lost cause. But she had to do something. She couldn't just stand there and watch everybody kill each other like life was just a small thing hanging on the trees for everybody.

At night, when Xena and Gabrielle were sharing a chamber, Xena watched Gabrielle while she slept, brushing her hand across her cheek. Talking to Gabrielle before sleep really helped her a lot. It reminded her to stay on track. Of how important it was to keep fighting. She remembered another time when she and Gabrielle were fighting with an army against this animalistic army with war paint on their faces, a bone through their noses, a whole new culture with new sets of rules and a non understandable language. She remembered how Gabrielle fought for everybody to survive, but Xena couldn't do that. She knew they were going to lose without a well planned and well working strategy. They needed a leader. So Xena fell back. She fell back to the old her, she felt back to being a bloodlust cold murderer of a warlord. It was only when she saw Gabrielle, helping the enemies who were dying, that she finally came back.

So this time Xena had promised herself to do things right, and to stop it.

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><p>"This is ridiculous!" Xena shouted.<p>

"For the sake of the Gods! It's just a few temples we're talking about! Why is it _so_ hard for you two to just compromise with each other, and make out a _deal_?"

Xena was arguing harshly with Demophon, the leader of the army Xena and Gabrielle was camping at.

"Acamas can't be trusted. He's a cowardly liar. He doesn't deserve any mercy! I say, KILL THEM ALL!"

"Demophon, listen to me!" Xena shouted even louder, tired of the arguing. "Acamas is your _brother_ for the sake of the Gods! What could he possibly have done to _deserve_ this treatment?"

"It's _HIS_ fault that our mother died! It's his fault she killed herself!"

Xena realized that she wasn't getting anywhere with this. So she angrily turned around and left the tent. She had to figure out the whole story.

So she left Gabrielle by herself, and went on her own to find this so called Acamas. She had to find out where the picture had broken.

It turned out that the story was more complicated than Xena had expected.

It turned out that their father had had another wife before their mother, and another son named Hippolytus, a boy which their mother, Phaedra, had fell hopelessly in love with. So when he rejected her, she claimed to Theseus, their father, that Hippolytus had raped her, even though it was a lie. As a punishment Poseidon cursed his horses to be frightened by a sea monster. That way the horses ended up dragging the rider into his death. Phaedra was heartbroken because she had never meant for Hippolytus to get killed. So in vain and guilt she committed suicide. But then, how could Demophon believe that it was Acamas' fault?

Sneaking into Acamas' room while no one was looking, she managed to get him to talk.

"He thinks that it's my fault our mother killed herself. But that's not true; it was her goddamn own fault! You see, Demophon has always been jealous on me because I'm the oldest and he thinks that our parents love me the most. Well, that's of course not true. But when he saw me bowing over the body of our dead mother, he thought it was my entire fault, like he always does when something bad happens. But I'm tired of this treatment from his side. It is my rightful possession as the firstborn son to those temples! So I say, KILL THEM ALL!"

Xena angrily left him soon after. Well, the visit didn't help much. But it was indeed clear that the two of them were brothers, born with the same temper and short fuse. And then Xena thought of something clever. Maybe all the two brothers needed was a bit tough love, a little fight one on one to become friends again? And some alcohol would surely make magic.

So Xena cleverly sent out two letters, one to each brother, and invited them to spend some alone time with her, in a tower out of the war. Surely no man had the guts to say no to such orders.

And as expected both men showed up in the tower. But before hell could break lose, Xena stepped in.

"Alright guys, here is the deal. I'm sick of this war and I'm sick of people dying. So I'm locking _both_ of you inside this tower until you come up a solution. There's fruit, bread and wine and such at the table should this take more than a day. Am I making myself clear?"

Xena was harsh and seemed so self-confident it would scare the most, but of course there was trouble.

"No, you're not!" Demophon said. Of course it had to be him. "I don't have to listen to either you or my stupidly brother!"

Rolling her eyes, Xena raised her sword to Demophon's throat and strangling him against the wall.

"Am I making myself clear?" She angrily hushed in his ear, the blade of the sword raised to his neck.

"C- Cry-stal." He answered in a shaky voice. So before anyone could protest any further Xena made her exit, and locked the door behind her, pulling a couple of items in front of it, should they try to escape.

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><p>Later at night, Xena and Gabrielle were camping outside the tower, curled up under the blankets to keep warm.<p>

"They're still going at it, huh?" Gabrielle huffed as she heard another slam against the wall and another sickening crack.

"_I never killed our mother! It was her GODDAMN own fault!" _They heard Acamas scream.

"_She is our mother for Gods sake! How can you be so cold?"_

"_Oh, take another drink, you sentimental FOUL!"_

"_I'm no FOUL, you can be the FOUL!"_

"_Mother loved you, are you too blinded to SEE that?" _Acamas must've been very drunk, because his own comment made him burst out in loud laughter.

"_Then…" _It seemed Demophon was starting to get confused. _"Why did she kill herself?"_ Well, the alcohol only seemed to make him more aggressive right now.

"_She was in LOVE with Hippolytus, for crying out loud! Can you believe it?" _Acamas couldn't stop laughing.

"_Really? Hippolytus?" _Now it was Demophon's turn to laugh his pants off. _"Hippolytus that foul? How could ANYONE love a man so… sooo… STUPID!" _

"_I don't know brother, I truly don't know!" _Acamas let out a chuckle as he started to cool down.

"_Oh, brother I'm sorry for accusing you for killing mother. How truly blinded I was, I couldn't SEE it!" _Both brothers laughing hysterically at the already use, and not very good, joke.

"_Oh, oh, oh, how I've missed you brother! You have always known me the best of all! Why don't we join army? Together, we could be unstoppable!"_

"Not if they get into another argue like this, they won't." Xena whispered. Gabrielle couldn't help but to chuckle so lightly at the comment from her raven haired friend.

"_You know what, that wouldn't be such a bad idea! Think of the many worlds we could conquer together! Unstoppable, I tell you my trusted brother, unstoppable!" _Demophon said.

"_Then it's a done deal brother, my ever so drunken brother!" _Both of them laughed like there were no tomorrow.

"What do we do now, when they've become friends?" Gabrielle asked, suddenly a bit concerned.

"I unlock the door and let them out, it's just that easy."

"But, aren't you afraid that they might just try to conquer the world together?" Gabrielle was a bit confuse about why Xena seemed do calm and ignorant toward the possibly new threat. Surely, an earlier warlord she would have thought of that.

"If I guess right it can't take long before those two begin a new fight about who's the strongest, who shall rule the kingdom or something else. Trust me, these two are no threats. And even if they become, I'll make sure that the boys behave nicely."

Gabrielle chuckled. Of course. Typical Xena. But as always she knew Xena was right. She had seen the temper of both of the guys. Two stubborn jackasses equal family fudge.

So after Xena had unlocked the door but did it ever so quietly to make sure the drunken brothers didn't get out, Xena rested closely to Gabrielle under the blanket. Gabrielle couldn't help but to snuggle up closely to Xena. She was so warm and comforting.


	2. Chapter 2

Emily and JJ were sitting in their separate beds in the shared bedroom. The team was in Louisville, KY for the time being, but this time it had been so hard to get rooms at the hotel that two people had to share one room. So JJ offered that she could share a room with Emily. After all, they were of same gender and good friends. It might be fun to share a few nights together, even though this was the first time they shared a room together alone. Right now it didn't seem so funny. An awkward silence hung in the air, and it just wouldn't disappear.

"So…" JJ said, not because she had anything to ask or say, but just to say _something_ to break the silence.

"So…" repeated Emily, not much to say either.

"What's the time?" JJ more or less already knew what the time was, but this was getting _beyond_ awkward.

Emily looked down at the watch on her wrist. "About 8 pm," she answered, never looking up.

It was still too early to go to bed, and JJ wasn't even tired. She looked over at Emily. She was having the feeling that this 'roommate' idea wasn't such a good idea. Emily had been in the BAU for a little over a year. The two women had always seemed to have this fling, this attraction and connection to each other, but never really did anything about it. It seemed like neither of them had the guts to confront the other nor to make the first move. Poor JJ was afraid that she was falling more and more in love with this woman, if it were possible. Tonight Emily was wearing this blue summery dress, from when she had gone to dinner with the rest of the team. It was very rare that JJ got to see Emily in a dress, but it suited her so very well. She looked even more beautiful, if that was even possible, a light coating of a dark eye shadow, red lipstick, the purest rose skin and the softest and silkiest raven colored hair. She was absolutely magnificent. The V neckline of the dress showing just enough to make JJ blush and the length going down to her knees to expose smooth and shaved long legs.

"Do we need to look at the case a bit more?" JJ suggested after another 5 minutes of burning holes in Emily's dress.

Emily took out the case file to look into it. Despite herself JJ rose from the bed and moved over to sit beside Emily, but this time she decided to be bold and sat just a bit closer than allowed to the agent. She could almost feel the skin of her arm. It felt wonderful but intoxicating. JJ was starting to fear that she might not be able to control herself.

"I don't know JJ. I mean, we don't really have much on this guy. I think we have to wait for him to make his move."

Emily placed her hand behind JJ's back to support herself, but also to get a little closer to the blonde. It was after all just the two of them alone in a hotel room, and Emily was really head over heels for this girl. Now she wanted to test JJ's boundaries.

JJ blushed and was close to moving back, but decided that if Emily wanted to play tough, there was no giving up.

She slowly tilted her head closer inwards to Emily's soft cheek, breathing lightly almost into Emily, sending a shiver down Emily's spine.

"You know what?" JJ asked so light it was on the edge of a whisper.

"No." Emily huskily answered.

"I think you're right."

With that, JJ made her move, closing the gap between them and lightly placing her lips on top of Emily's. Her heart was beating so fast it seemed to jump out of her chest. She wasn't sure if she truly realized what she was doing, but that was when she felt Emily's lips harshly pressing back, taking dominance and slipping a hand up to cup JJ's cheek. Just as it was starting to go smooth, JJ let her nerves get in the way. Quickly, she burst up and stood in front of a confused Emily. Trying to use her skills as media liaison, she tried to come up with some sort of lame excuse, but when nothing really came, she simple pointed at the bathroom door to try and tell that she had to pee. Walking fast into the small room, she chose to leave Emily behind.

'_Way to go Prentiss,' _Emily thought. '_One second she's kissing you and the next second she's running away like you're some sort of monster. Do I smell bad or something? Is my breath really that bad?' _Emily took a hand up to smell her breath, but decided to take a breath mint to be on the safe side when she smelled nothing. '_Maybe I moved to fast… I don't want to do something she's not ready for, but she kissed me first! Oh God, this is confusing…'_

Even though she was confused, Emily decided that it would probably be best to check on JJ anyway.

"JJ, are you okay in there?" she asked, knocking lightly on the bathroom door.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. You know, just nature's call," she pretended to laugh softly to ease the mood, but she knew Emily would never buy that. She was lying through her teeth.

"Okay, just wanted to make sure."

When JJ came out again, Emily had found herself a book she was buried in. JJ decided to play some music for herself. Time seemed to go easier that way, but neither of them could get the kiss out of their head. All JJ wanted to do was to take Emily and throw her on the bed and make the most magnificent love with her, but she soon had to force the thought out of her head since she was beginning to lack oxygen and her cheeks turned red with embarrassment. How could she think this about Emily? She was sure that Emily kissing her back was just a mistake and that Emily wouldn't want to do it again. That would be why she chose the book over her.

On the other side of the room, the other agent couldn't really concentrate on the book in her lap. There was a special blonde woman that she couldn't get out of her head…that kiss…the feel of her skin in her hands, soft, warm and silky, completely intoxicating. She wanted more, but what if JJ had backed down because she regretted kissing her? But then, why _did_ she kiss her in the first place? Emily simply _had_ to find out, but she couldn't be too obvious, no. She was going to tease her, test her and trick her into telling Emily everything.

So when time finally came to go to sleep Emily made sure she was the last to go to the bathroom. But when the time came to change and undress herself from her dress, the zipper 'unfortunately' stuck.

"JJ?"

"Are you okay in there Prentiss?" JJ called back, already sitting in her own bed.

"We're not on job, please call me by my front name, and no, my zipper has jammed! Do you mind helping me?"

JJ couldn't help but to smile as she rose. Stubborn and helpless, Emily truly was.

"Let me take a look at it, Em." JJ said with a smile, as she got into the bathroom.

Emily couldn't help but to chuckled. She loved it when JJ called her 'Em', her nickname.

"Let's go out in the light." Emily suggested turning around, heading for her bed.

Emily turned around so JJ could look at her back, where the zipper was placed.

Numb fingers quickly found the head of the zipper and rolled it down, exposing more of her silky skin. But before JJ could turn away again, Emily pressed her back against JJ, tilling her head to the side, allowing JJ access of her neck. JJ caught her breath in her throat, her heart racing. She knew Emily was teasing her, but she simple didn't have the power to resist the temptation. So she slowly and carefully moved stiffly forward to finally place her lips on soft skin, causing Emily to shiver with light pleasure and desire. When JJ's kiss begun to move along her shoulder, Emily dropped her dress on the floor.

She turned around in JJ's arms, locking eye contact with the blonde.

JJ knew that because she had moved away before, she had to make the first move again. So it didn't take long before she moved forward, meeting Emily's waiting lips. Not after long time, JJ deepened the kiss, as Emily turned around and pushed JJ onto her bed, not wasting any time anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: A new update! I'm going back to the story again, so expect more from me in the future. Thanks to my beta-reader tazvlr2001 for helping me! Please R&R!**

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><p>As they walked quietly along the path, Gabrielle couldn't help but to smile. Xena and she had just taught some robbers about to make their move, how to actually earn money from helping people instead of stealing from them. And even though this seemed to be just another ordinary day, something seemed special about it.<p>

It was in the way the flowers sprung and bloomed, the cool summer breeze playing in her hair, but most of all, it was the dark haired beauty next to her. She had never felt so close to a person before. Xena was the best friend Gabrielle could ever imagine. There was something about those ice blue eyes, her smile, her laugh and voice, even her extraordinary body, with those slender and firm curves, the softness about her skin and the elegance about her moving muscles that for some strange reason, all seemed to draw Gabrielle even closer.

Gabrielle couldn't quite put any words to it, but it seemed like this must be true friendship, like nothing else in the world. It was like she would even feel shivers go up and down her spine, just by feeling Xena's hand on her arm or knee. It was wonderful.

But something was very special about this day, and it didn't take long for Xena to sense that something was off. It was like they were being followed or something. Smelling the air around her, watching the leaves in the wind, her sharp senses quickly caught on track.

"What is it?" Gabrielle asked, watching her friend with curiousness as she had stopped dead in her tracks.

"Alright, whoever it is, show yourself!" Xena shouted in the air.

And just as she expected a small flash of light appeared followed by Hermes, the god of traveling.

He was a fairly young man with freckles, a winged hat and a shepherd's staff, but he was athletic, his back was straight and it was clear that he wasn't a man to foul. Xena quickly raised her sword, pointing it at him and making sure Gabrielle stayed behind. His face looked angry and when Gabrielle looked up, she noticed the sky turning grey and lightning starting to strike.

"What do you want?"

"I come here on a quest from all the gods. We're tired of your 'saving the world' thing, and I'm tired of all the cleaning up. Have you no idea about what sort of disorder you put things in?"

"Since I checked helping people isn't any crime."

"Everything was perfect until you came along. Things were going fine, everyone was happy."

"Happy? Is that what you call helpless people being slaughtered in their own beds, young boys forced a sword in their hands, girls enslaved by a monstrous warlord?"

"It made a lot of people's job up here a lot easier. But no matter, it's too late for you to safe them this time little human. I'm sending you on a trip in time, to another place, another time. Let's see if you can twist your little way around this one, warrior _princess_." He spat out, chuckling coldly as he thrust his staff to the ground, eyes suddenly beginning to glow as the thunder came closer and wilder, enclosing around the two women.

"Xena?" Gabrielle said, as she felt her feet being lifted off the ground.

"Gabrielle!" Xena said, griping the bard by the arm, following her up in the sky. "Hold on to me and don't let go at any cost!" Xena looked desperately around, trying to find a way out this.

The wind was whirling wildly around them, throwing them into a tree and further up. But Xena was quick and as fast as she could, grabbed a branch and held onto it like it was a matter of life or death.

"Don't let go!" She shouted to Gabrielle who was clinging tightly with slippery arms to her waist, trying her best to stay on.

"Xena!" Gabrielle shouted to a match, as her feet were now in the air, her arms sliding further down the warrior's legs, not able to hold on in the storm.

"GABRIELLE!" Xena yelled out as high as possible when the blonde's hands slowly gripped around her feet, before gliding down and letting flying away to the unseen on the other side of the storm.

Xena tried with everything she could muster to stay still, her eyes going to the now empty space, tears angrily gliding into one with the whirling storm. She heard a loud crack come from the branch.

"HERMES!" she tried. "What have you done?" that was the last thing she said before the branch gave after, not able to hold on to the extra heavy weight with lightning crushing it down.

As Xena disappeared, the storm slowly subsided like nothing had ever happened. The only thing left was the heavy laughter from a long gone winged God.

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><p>Emily Prentiss walked quietly home on the street of DC. It had been a long and hard day. They had just gotten home from this most horrible case where they were too late to save the little girl, having to deal with the devastated parents waiting in the bullpen in complete denial. And when they had finally arrived back home, she had found out that her car tire was flat. But living no more than 10 minutes away, she had decided to take the walk and get some fresh night air on the way.<p>

But then the rain started pouring down, and it was getting dark and late. She turned the corner to the flower shop, thinking of getting her girlfriend some flowers, knowing that she was waiting at home for her. But that was only to find that the shop had closed 10 minutes ago. Sighing loudly and cursing her feet for being so tired, she sadly continued her journey in the rain and lightning, looking forward to once again be in her beautiful girlfriend's arms.

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><p>"Gabrielle!" Xena shouted whirling in a hurricane on pictures. She watched as Greece slowly evolved, becoming more and more knowing and creating things she didn't even know what was for. New clothing, new sports, wars and weapons she couldn't even imagine how much damage it could create, dresses that didn't make any sense, poor people begging on the street, more new weird devices, in a whole new planet that made absolutely no sense. Where were the Gods to watch over?<p>

But the thing that concerned her the most right now was the flying unconscious bard in front of her. Xena stretched and stretched, but no matter what, it didn't seem to be enough. She couldn't reach her.

As Xena fought to reach Gabrielle, her vision became increasingly blurry, making it impossible for her to see anything. She was suddenly falling, deeper and deeper down towards a greyish light. The next thing she knew was feeling a striking pain going through her whole body as she landed hard on what felt like rough and cold stones on the ground. Blinking rapidly to try and get her sight back, she quickly jumped up when she saw the dark grey, almost black concrete in front of her. She had never in her whole life seen anything like it, but that was until she looked up.

Feeling a nausea come up, she slowly took in the sight in front of her. Tall fortresses stood on the other side of some sort of road, with large windows shinning bright with some sort of mystery force. Everything perfectly square and in colors that almost made her fall back. Before her stood what appeared to be tall fakler with the same magic as from the windows. But what scared her most were the fast and glowing monsters on the road, running faster than anything she had ever seen before! It looked like they carried humans inside of them. But the night was dark and rain was pouring down like crazy, making it hard to see everything.

"Gabrielle!" Xena shouted, still not forgetting the most important person in her life. Looking desperately around, she found the blonde lying still unconsciously further down on the road.

She ran as fast as she could to the blonde's side, cradling her in her arms. Feeling on the neck and heart, she had a hard time finding any pulse at all.

"Help!" she screamed out in the air, hoping for someone to come rushing to their rescue. "HELP!"

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><p>Emily was just turning the last corner to her apartment, when she heard a scream. Stopping dead in her tracks to listen closer, she made sure that it wasn't just her mind playing tricks on her. And that was when she heard it:<p>

"Somebody help!" a voice shouted out. Her FBI-training quickly kicking in, she ran as fast as she could to find the source of the screaming. And sure enough, on the other side of the road she saw two figures lying on the street, what looked like a woman holding an unconscious person in her arms.

"Hey!" she screamed. "Over here!"

The person, a dark haired woman rose from the person on the ground. Emily quickly made a sign that she was there. But before she could get any chance of doing anything, the female figure ran out in the middle of the street. Emily watched in shock as a car honked. The next thing she knew, the woman went flying over the roof of the car and up in the air, landing hard on her shoulder and screaming in pain.

Taking her badge out, Emily showed it to the stopping cars, indicating that she had this under control. Running to the dark-haired woman, she saw that she was slowly standing up, blood running down her body. Emily grabbed her by the back, gliding an arm around the woman to help her get up. But the stranger was tough and got up on her own.

"Gabrielle…" she whispered.

"We need to get you out of here first." Emily answered as sweetly as she could, helping the stranger out of the way and laying her down on the sidewalk in safety. But tough as she indeed was, the stranger tried to get up and run to the blonde on the other side.

"I'm fine. It's just a dislocated shoulder. I need to get to Gabrielle. I need to help her first." She said her voice laced with all sorts of emotions.

But Emily wasn't going to let that happened and pushed her down again.

"You need to calm down first! Can you do that for me?"

"Calm down! I don't even know where I am!" But Emily just kept on pressing her back. "Alright! I get it!" she finally said, giving up.

"Now stay here, and I'm going to get your friend. Do you understand?" as soon as the woman nodded, Emily was on her feet again, crossing the street effortless.

Sitting down she took the figure in her arms. It was a blonde woman, clad in what appeared to be a green top and a long skirt of some sort. Leaning down to feel any sign of life, she quickly found the weak pulse and started searching her for any wound, only to come up with no huge source. Feeling the woman begin to stir in her arms, she concentrated on the face again.

"Hey there. My name is Emily. Can you tell me yours?" Emily asked, trying to get her to talk.

"X… X-Xena?" the woman whispered.

"Gabrielle, stay where you are! Everything is going to be alright!" Emily heard the other woman shout. Damn she must have a good hearing.

"Xena!" the blonde whispered again a little louder this time. "W-Where… are…" it was clear that she had trouble speaking.

"Easy there. I'm glad you're with us again. I need you to keep calm, alright? Can you do that for me?" When the woman nodded slightly Emily relaxed a bit more. "Good. I'm just going to get you to the other side of the street to your friend. Is that alright?"

When the weak woman nodded again, Emily slowly took her arm over her neck, taking most of the weight of the woman as she helped her to get up. Taking slow steps, she waited until there were no cars in sight before slowly walking with the girl across the street.

As soon as they reach the other side, the brunette was already up and running to her side. She looked all over the blonde, trying to see if anything had happened to her. Looking her deeply into her eyes, she stopped for a moment, putting her hand upon the blonde's cheek, stroking it caringly. But then she just moved aside, taking the blonde's arm over her shoulder. She let out a hiss in pain.

"Why don't you let me take care of her first, okay? It looks like you're hurt, you should sit back down." Emily said, nothing going unnoticed by her.

"It's fine, just a dislocated shoulder. Nothing I haven't tried before."

"Well, that doesn't mean you don't need to rest. I can get you both to the hospital, but first we need to get inside, do you understand that?" Emily's voice was a mixture of softness and firmness. It was hard for her to try and take control over the situation with the brunette constantly arguing.

"Then I just have to take care of it myself."

Before Emily could say or do anything, the dark-haired woman was rushing into the wall, side first, full-speed. She heard a sickening crack, and when she looked up, the woman was rolling her shoulder around, placing it back to where it belonged. Before Emily had the chance to respond, the brunette was by the blonde's side again, helping her.

"Everything is going to be alright Gabrielle. We just have to get you inside for now. Get some rest."

"Follow me." Emily added, as they slowly dragged the almost unconscious blonde into the building and up the stairs.

Finally turning the key to her apartment, Emily prayed to God that her girlfriend wouldn't freak out about this.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So here's chapter four. Think it's more of a filler than anything. Thanks to the lovely tazvlr2001 for beta reading! Please enjoy and R&R! :)**

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><p>Hey honey, you're home late!"<p>

Emily heard her girlfriend shout from the kitchen when she walked in.

"Hi babe! Um, I don't really know how to put this, but we have guests."

As she suspected she soon heard footsteps come closer. Trying to stop her heart from racing like crazy, she couldn't help but to make a face of nervousness over her lover's reaction to her new 'friends'.

And true enough, as soon the girl walked into the hallway the smile on her face soon faded and became a sight of almost horror. Giving Emily an ice-cold glance for a second, she quickly rushed forward to a blonde woman, about to fall.

"Wow, there you go," she said, taking her into her arms. "Why don't I take you to the guestroom?" With one last stern look at Emily saying 'you owe me big time', she was soon gone again, blonde in her arms.

"We don't you sit down?" Emily asked friendly, placing a hand on the brunette, gesturing toward the couch before them. "I'll get you some water."

Hesitating for a second, the brunette finally nodded and sat down, while Emily moved toward the kitchen.

She couldn't help but to glance back at the woman before her, though. It had been too dark to see anything outside. She must've been about 6 feet tall, with long dark and almost completely black hair. Her face was serious, hard and mysterious, with ice blue eyes, looking suspiciously around, but what had Emily concerned the most was probably her outfit. She was wearing what looked to be a small leather dress, with breast plates, leather boots and arm protectors - the whole 9 yards. On her back was a sheath with what looked to be a real sword in it, and hanging on her side was what looked to be a metal ring with knife-sharp edges on the outside. What she was wearing it for, Emily couldn't really tell. At first, she thought a costume party, but with a trained eye on her side, it actually looked like the real deal.

Emily knew this wasn't any time to make suspicions. Because walking back with that glass of water in her hand, Emily saw the bruises forming, a deep cut in her arm and rifts on her legs. Some of them even looked to be made by hands clawing down, but what on earth had happened?

"I don't think I've introduced myself yet," Emily said, sitting close beside the other woman so she could put her hand to her shoulder, to calm her down and make her feel welcome. "My name is Emily Prentiss. This is my apartment. The other woman is my girlfriend. I'll let her introduce herself later." Emily held out her hand for her to shake, but instead of taking just the hand, she gripped her under the elbow and shook their arms carefully.

"The name is Xena. I don't know if you've heard of me, but I come in peace." She tried to smile, be a bit friendlier.

"No, I don't think I have." Emily smiled back lightly. "But it's always good to know that you can be safe in your own home," she chuckled lightly, looking down, but when her eyes met Xena's again, they were serious and concerned.

"Can I ask you something?" Xena said; seriousness and suspiciousness written all over her face.

"Sure," Emily answered, straightening her back.

"Where in Tartarus are we? This place almost looks like Illusia, just without the singing."

Emily was slightly taken a back, both by the question itself but more so by the mentioning of Tartarus and Illusia.

"You don't remember? You're in the center Washington DC."

"Great… How long is there from here to Rome?"

"Rome? Why do you want to go to Rome?" This was getting weirder by the moment.

"I was on my way to visit an old friend of mine. Caesar."

When Emily chuckled lightly, Xena shot her head up, not liking being laughed at.

"What so funny?" she asked. Emily searched deep within the blue eyes, shock hitting her slightly when she saw nothing but truth and seriousness.

"You mean as Julius Caesar?"

"Uh huh. That's the guy. King of Rome. Ruler of the Empire."

"Well, I'm very sorry to say this to you, but Caesar was killed over 2000 years ago."

Standing up Xena in confusion and shock, she drew her sword, looking desperately around.

"What the hell is this place?" she said firmly, keeping her voice down.

"Wow, hey, calm down. I'm not trying to do you any harm here." Xena looked at her with a demanding look. "You're in Washington DC, in USA, America. It's the 5th of august, 2009. You're miles away from Rome."

But this only seemed to make Xena even more suspicious about it.

"Just hand me the sword. We can just talk. No one has to get hurt."

Xena pulled the sword close to her chest for a second, not sure if she should trust the strange. She squinted her eyes hard in a look of dismay before finally giving up and placing the sword in Emily's hand. And Emily, thinking it was nothing but a fake sword with no real edges just gripped it hard on the blade, just to drop it again as she felt her hand sting and saw the blood running down.

"What the hell?" she said as she walked hurriedly to the sink, turning it on to wash the blood away. She made a deep, long cut in the middle of her palm.

"Hey! You have to be careful with that!" Xena said, rushing to her side. "Let me have a look at that."

"No need, I'm fine. Really. Just a bit of bandage and cleaning and it'll be alright," Emily said, drying the now wet hand of in a towel before picking the sword and placing it a bit more safely.

"The real question is why do you even have that thing on you?"

"Well, you never know when you might need it."

"Apparently not…" Emily whispered to herself, sitting back down. "But tell me, what happened to you."

"Well it all started like any other day. Gabrielle and I were walking quietly along the road on our way through the woods…"

* * *

><p>"Hey there," Gabrielle heard a soft voice whisper. "I'm glad you're back with us," it said. But she couldn't really concentrate. All she could do was to think of Xena. Where in Tartarus were they?<p>

"Xena?" she heard the raspy voice, but barely recognized it as her own.

"She's in the living room with Emily. Do you remember her?" the voice answered.

"Is she… okay?"

"Don't worry too much about it, okay? She's alright. Right now the most important thing you can do is try and relax, okay?"

Gabrielle nodded slightly, too tired to argue, her whole body aching in pain.

"I'll get some water to clean your wounds. Just try and lean back and relax."

And after that, everything went blurring and she led Morpheus lead her into dreamland.

* * *

><p>"… And that's when we met you," Xena finished, just as the other woman from before walked back out of the room for the second time. In her hands was a bowl of red water, from cleaning the wounds.<p>

"How is she?" Xena eagerly asked, concerned after not having heard a word since they arrived.

"She's sound asleep right now. It would be a bad idea to wake her up."

"Good, she needs to rest," Xena replied.

After cleaning the blood from the bowl, the other woman slowly approached the couch.

"I don't think I got the chance to say hello before," she smiled lovingly. "My name is Jennifer, but just call me JJ," she offered her hand out.

"Xena. It's a pleasure to meet you." And just as before, Xena grabbed her by the arm and shook it quietly.

"I've set up the other room for you to sleep in for tonight. It's late and it seems that both of you need some rest. Tomorrow morning we'll drive the two of you to the hospital."

"Thank you for the offer, but you have already done so much. I promise we'll be out of here by sunrise."

"No, we insist. It's just on the way to where we work; it's no big of a deal," Emily answered, waving Xena's comment off.

Xena was just about to argue, when she realized that there was probably no use in it anyway. Instead she just smiled warmheartedly at the two of them, trying to show them gratitude.

* * *

><p>Later that night Emily lay naked in her bed with JJ in her arms. She was playing lovingly with her long golden hair, curling it in her fingers.<p>

"I'm really sorry for all this," she whispered quietly in JJ's ear, making the blonde turn around to face her lover.

"It's okay. I know you have a big heart when it comes to helping others. That's one of the things I love about you." She smiled. "But what do you _make_ of all this? What did she tell you?"

"I don't know, but something's really off here. First of all, their clothing and why carry real weapons with you? I talked to Xena about how they good here. She told this long story of Greek Gods and warriors, warlords. She even said something about meeting Caesar in Rome, and she has absolutely no clues whatsoever about where she is. She even asked me at one point about how the fire got in the lamps, making them glow that much."

"Maybe she just hit her head really hard sweetie?" JJ stroked Emily's cheek lovingly, trying to wash the stern and concerned look away from her girlfriend.

"But it was just the enthusiasm, the realness. Everything looked to by authentic, and she even had wounds on her to confirm her stories. Well, I just don't know… I guess we'll find out tomorrow," Emily finished with a small smile.

"Good," JJ said, glancing down at Emily's lips. "Cause right now, I have other plans for us," she said it teasingly, leaning in and capturing the brunette's lips with her own. And when Emily deepened the kiss and rolled JJ over on the back, she knew that they were going to figure things out on a later time.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Forgot to say:**

**Tartarus: Hell (It's just what they called it in acient Greece)**

**Illusia: The weird and magic land Xena & Gabrielle visits in 'The Bitter Suite' (3X12)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, I know it's been a while, that's all on me. But since I've started rewatching Xena, I'm taken this story up again and made a plan for it and started some research. So if you're lucky, there might be more updates to come in the future. Thanks to my lovely beta, tazlvr2001, and please tell me what you think, it makes me want to write and update more!**

* * *

><p>The first thing Emily did that morning, after kissing the sleeping JJ gently on the cheek, was to go check on Xena. She was momentarily surprised to find the room empty though, but that was only until she heard her gentle voice in the room with Gabrielle, whispering softly; comforting her.<p>

"It's going to be alright Gabrielle. Don't worry, I'll figure out some way for us to get home in no time. I don't like this place, there's something completely wrong. I can feel it, but for now I think we're safe here, with these people." Xena gently leaned down to place a small kiss on Gabrielle's forehead.

"You are safe here; we have no other intentions then helping you. We're going to do the best we can," Emily whispered softly from the doorway, turning Xena's attention away from the sleeping woman before them.

Xena got up and moved out of the room, followed closely by Emily.

"I've taken the day off, so we can go to the hospital when Gabrielle wakes up. I think it would be best for her to sleep out properly after the day the two of you had yesterday," Emily said.

"There's no need for any hospice or healers or whatever you call it these times. It was just a hard landing, that's all. Now what we really need to find out, are why in Tartarus Hermes would want us out of the picture? We've never done him anything at any time. He must have been tricked, but by who? Who would want to do this?" Xena paced the living room, trying to make sense of things.

"Alright, let's just say that I for a moment believe that it is actually possible, that you're from the past. Do you have anyone that would hold anything against you? Any enemies?" Emily asked, sitting down in compassion to the confusion of it all.

"Well, as I said before, we were on our way to pay Caesar a visit."

"So you two were enemies?" Emily asked, trying to play along, even though her mind thought she must have gone crazy.

"Let's just say that we don't have a particularly happy history together, but there's no way that he could have known we were coming," Xena answered, deep in thought.

"Anyone else you have any history with I should know about?"

"That list would be too long to go through at any time. I'm not sure I can remember all the people I've hurt in my past. It would be useless. No, we have to figure out who would have wanted me gone? Who could have gained anything of me being out of the picture, but more so, who would gain from me being trapped in the future?"

"I honestly don't think I can answer that, since I don't know anything yet about you and your past. Maybe we should just concentrate on you two healing properly and fitting in, until we can find out more," Emily suggested.

"You're probably right. Do you have anything to eat? I think I'm going out to try and find some herbs for the healing and get a feeling of this place. I could hunt us some meat on the way, maybe catch a fish."

"I'm sorry Xena, but we don't exactly hunt our own food in the 21th century," Emily asked, doing her best to keep a straight face towards this poor clueless woman.

"You don't?" Xena asked, surprised.

* * *

><p>When Gabrielle woke up, she looked around curiously. She couldn't really remember much other than falling through that hole - falling and falling, calling out in desperation and fear after Xena, only to find her too far out of reach.<p>

This new place, she didn't remember, and quite frankly, she didn't really know what to think of it. It looked so well built, like the insides of a castle or a fine church, but the decorations were far too simple for that. Every material, every wall and window seemed different, new, unlike anything she had ever seen before, and she had seen a great deal of places on her and Xena's travels.

Slowly sitting up, she suddenly felt an ache in her head taking place, and rolled her sore shoulders in slight pain. Where was Xena?

Gabrielle rose from the bed, feeling the pain in her whole body now, and went for the door as the first thing. Squeezing her eyes shut and blinking for a moment to clear her head, she stretched her back one last time, before pulling the handle of the door, opening it.

What she found in the other room though, was a rather queer and almost frightening sight. None of it looked like anything she had ever seen, some sort of magic surrounding the place, creating light and music, where no fire or band were. A stranger, black hair, brown eyes and pale skin in an outfit she couldn't recognize from any place she had ever been, holding out clothing for Xena to try out.

"Xena?" Gabrielle asked, not really knowing what to make of this.

"Gabrielle, you're awake," Xena greeted her with a warm smile, before dropping the strange clothes and coming over to her side, placing a caring arm on her back. "Gabrielle, this is Emily, she owns this place with her friend, JJ."

"Pleasure to meet you," Gabrielle said after a second, stretching her arm out, shaking Emily's.

"Pleasure's all mine. Xena told me a lot about you while you were asleep," Emily said smiling. A little 'oh', went from Gabrielle's mouth followed by a polite nod. It was clear that she didn't really like this at all. Sensing this, Xena quietly let Gabrielle over to the couch, sitting down with her.

"Gabrielle, know this all seems strange and weird, it does to me too, but I think that we can trust these people for now." Gabrielle still looked hesitant, so Xena added, "You know I love you, right? So if you don't have faith in them, at least have faith in me." At that Gabrielle melts, and offers Xena a small smile before turning to Emily.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Washington DC, USA. It's the 6th of august, 2009," she answered, just as she had answered Xena.

Gabrielle felt her head spinning.

"2009? How's that even possible!?" now she turned to Xena, relying on her to have figured this whole thing out.

"Hermes sent us here, but I'm not completely sure of why. He must have been blackmailed or something, we have never gotten in his way at any point."

"But who would do that?" Gabrielle asked, concerned.

"I don't know yet. I just hope we'll figure it out before it's too late," Xena said truthfully.

* * *

><p>Breakfast was a rather unusual and awkward affair in itself. Xena and Gabrielle didn't really seem to know much of the food that was presented, and it took some convincing on Emily's side to get them to eat anything. Conversations were few, and the expressions used on either side seemed to take too much time and explaining to be worth it.<p>

Soon, it was just Emily, sitting quietly and sipping her coffee, watching as Gabrielle tried to take polite and small bites of some of the things, while Xena messed around with all the food, trying all the different combinations and deciding her favorites and try to figure out what sort of ingredients the different things contained.

"After breakfast, I still want to go out and get a feel of things around here," Xena said

"Of course, but since I can't convince you to be checked out at a hospital, maybe I can convince you to borrow some clothing, for the time being," Emily interrupted

"Why?" Xena asked. "There's nothing wrong with these clothes," she stated, not wanting to give up her armor.

"Maybe she's right, Xena," Gabrielle said looking Emily over. "It's not like we exactly fit in here."

"What? But we haven't even seen how the rest of the town dresses," Xena looked almost offended that Gabrielle would team against her.

"Oh, trust me; you two would definitely stand out," Emily interrupted, trying to help the case, only to be met by two ice cold eyes, staring deadly back at her.

"Come on, Xena. Maybe it'll be nice with some change. This is the perfect chance to do some shopping."

"Gabrielle, you know I hate shopping," Xena protested, rolling her eyes at the blonde.

"It's actually not a bad idea. You know, my girlfriend, JJ, has an excellent taste. I bet she could help you get the perfect outfit."

"It'll be fun Xena, and we're already going out anyway, it's perfect!" Gabrielle pleaded. "And you've been wanting to look for a new knife for some time now, anyway... Please Xena."

"Alright," Xena finally gave in. "But only because I need some new weapons."

"Wow, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Emily cut in.

"What do you mean?" Gabrielle asked, not seeing the problem.

"I'm a federal agent; I can't help you getting weapons," Emily's tone was serious - looking like just the thought of her helping these practical strangers picking guns was ridicules, which it really was.

"What's a federal agent?" Gabrielle asked, interested.

"I'm a cop. I work for the FBI." Emily took out her badge and gun, putting them on the table for the guests to see. "Me and my team go around catching criminals. You know, bad guys. Making sure that the law is being held up, justice is made and all that."

"So you're like the sheriff?" Xena asked, trying to understand her.

"Well, yeah. Sort of. Anyway, me and my unit are what we call profilers. We use knowledge about people and their minds to catch criminals. We typically deal with serial killers or kidnappers, more serious stuff like that. We have the local police to take care of smaller stuff, like speeding tickets or petty thieves," Emily tried to explain.

"Sounds complicated," Xena frowned her eyebrows.

"Trust me, complicated as it might be, I think it's probably the easiest thing to keep things separated," Emily chuckled to herself.

"But then you understand where we come from," Gabrielle jumped in. "Haven't you heard of the mighty Xena, warrior princess?"

"It sounds familiar, but nothing more than a name," Emily tried to dig in her memory. Warrior princess. Why did that all of the sudden ring a small bell in the back of her mind?

"You know, the great Xena, destroyer of nations," Gabrielle tried to help.

"I'm sorry to say this, but if you're trying to convince me to help you buy weapons, you're not really doing a great job," Emily chuckled again, her eyebrows meeting in confusion.

"I'm sorry, but if you're like the sheriff, you have to understand. Xena and I have dedicated our life's to help others. Fight for the greater good. Setting things right."

"Well, you don't need weapons for charity," now it was Emily's turn to try and understand.

"No, but sometimes a sword is the only way out," Xena interjected. "Look, I don't know how things are being done around here, but where I come from, when the bad guys as you call them, come with an entire army to destroy a village, they don't really care about charity and nice words about peace."

"Right," Emily had a hard time believing what she was hearing. "What do you know about stopping armies? One person?" sarcasm dripped from her voice.

"Well-" Gabrielle tried to cut in, sensing Xena's blood about to boil, but all too late.

"If you're so certain about this, why don't we settle this woman to woman?" Xena challenged.

"What, are you serious? No, I don't want to fight you, but come on, one person against an entire army?"

"We usually have help from the villagers-" Gabrielle tried again.

"I'm not proud of my past, but they didn't call me slayer of nations for nothing," Xena said, serious as ever. "Back in the days, nothing could stop my army. I don't know how many innocent lives that have fallen to my sword, and I regret that, but since then, things have changed. With my knowledge of war, you don't find a much better candidate to stopping an army, and with Gabrielle at my side to keep me on the right track there's nothing that can stop me from fighting for the greater good and trying to redeem myself."

"Alright, let's say I believe you. It's still a lot for one person in one lifetime, but let's just drop it for now. There's no need to start an argument," Emily said, settling down.

"You're right, and if it helps, this is just as strange to you as it is to us," Gabrielle pointed out, dropping the whole thing for now.


End file.
